Jib Jab. Michael Moore. Joe Trippi. If this was not election year in the U.S. we would not have even noticed these folks. Now, the media hang on to every word they utter. Moore was on Jay Leno. Joe Tripi has a book with a very catchy title, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and a Blog. Meanwhile, JibJab, the Bush-Kerry cartoon creators, are also facing copyright violation issues as reported by CNN.

One thing’s working for both candidates in this over-communicated world: the ability to distract the media from sticky issues. New York Times syndicated columnist, Paul Krugman on August 1st (registration required) pointed out instances of “TV news pursuing campaign triva.” He notes that trivialization and bias abound.

“We hear about Kerry’s haircuts, not his healthcare proposals. We hear about George Bush’s brush-cutting, not his environmental policies.”

It’s the Jay Leno-tization of news.